Interest rates, employment costs, Box Park, BrewDog, holidays & other:

A DAY IN THE LIFE:

Following on from our comments on influencers and stylists last week, other ‘jobs’ or, more precisely, ‘roles’ that have the capacity to annoy and upset are ‘engineer’ and ‘architect’ when associated with the word ‘brand’.

Because you’re not an architect, are you?

I doubt you know much about trigonometry, spatial design or structural stability when all you do is gob off about things that don’t matter.

Or matter little, perhaps.

And ninjas and jedis, again when combined with the word ‘brand’ are to be avoided as are the monikers ‘captain’ and, topical this one, ‘punk’.

Prat, on the other hand, often works well.

Or…but we won’t add any other words here as we don’t want to get those firewalls too excited this early in the day.

Let’s move on to the news:

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PUBS & RESTAURANTS:

Interest rates:

The Bank of England’s MPC will opine on interest rates on Thursday at noon. The betting had been, until the US and Israel attacked Iran, that a 25bp cut was very likely. That is no longer the case…

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Employment costs:

UKH has responded to the Government’s proposals to help young people into work and support businesses with the cost of doing so saying that hospitality has been included in new foundation apprenticeships from April 2026, with further scheme details to be announced imminently. It adds that it welcomes the fact that ‘businesses will receive £3,000 for every young person they hire aged 18-24 who has been on Universal Credit and looking for work for six months….’

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Other news:

Alcohol free beer is to be added to the list of some 760 items that are used to calculate the rate of inflation in the UK.

Independent breweries. The Independent Brewers of Europe has produced a report suggesting that four in ten independent breweries believe that ‘survival is their main priority’. The IBE, a cross-border alliance founded in 2024 to represent and protect independent brewing across the continent, suggests that players are ‘grappling with energy price volatility, taxation pressures and intensifying competition from multinational companies that control a significant share of the beer market….’

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Beer market globally. Scope Ratings has suggested that global brewers are seeing a stagnation to their markets with some developed market volumes enter structural decline…

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Japan imported less wine in 2025 than in the previous year with volumes down by 2.3%. The value of goods imported nonetheless rose by 1.5% year on year.

The Telegraph reports that the number of vape and tobacco stores has risen by 245 to nearly 2,200 since 2016 meaning that seven pubs have closed for every new vape shop that has opened in the last 10 years.

New York City is set to introduce a minimum wage of $30, up from the current $17, by 2030. This will impact industries such as hospitality which, traditionally, have relied heavily on younger and less well-paid staff who have the chance to make up their wages from tips.

COMPANY NEWS:

Generate Topco Limited, which is the parent company of the Boxpark business and holds 100% of the issued share capital of Boxpark Limited, has reported results to 30 April 2025 to Companies House saying that revenue rose by 2.3% to £20.4m but, as the GP% dropped from 39.6% to 32.0%, losses have widened….

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Tilray Brands has announced that it has ‘entered into an asset purchase agreement to acquire certain strategic assets of BrewDog in the United States, including its brewery, pub, and hotel in Columbus, Ohio, as well as the pubs in New Albany, Ohio, Cleveland, Ohio, and Las Vegas, Nevada.’ The company reports that ‘as one of the largest craft beer brands in Ohio, this acquisition aligns with Tilray’s regional jewel strategy….’

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Virgin Wines has reported H1 numbers saying that revenue increased by 2% year-on-year to £34.7 million (H1 2024: £34.1 million). It says the market declined by 11% during the period. Virgin Wines adds that it saw ‘strong trading over the peak Christmas period, with revenue over the seven weeks to 26 December 2025 increasing by 5% year-on-year.’ The company nonetheless reports a loss before tax of £358k (FY24: profit £1.3m)….

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Heineken has reported that sales of Murphy’s stout in the UK are up tenfold (up 1,040%) in 2026 to date. UK on-trade director Will Rice says that the ‘growth over the past year has exceeded even our most ambitious expectations, and is testament to the strength of the brand itself….’

The Telegraph writes ‘it’s been a miserable few weeks for James Watt, the self-styled “punk” whose BrewDog empire was frittered away.’ It adds that ‘his fall from grace has not stopped there’, saying that ‘it is understood that the House of Unicorn, Watt’s Dragon’s Den-style reality TV show with a £2m jackpot, which was promised to hit our screens last year, has been canned after failing to attract any interest from commissioners.’

HOLIDAYS & LEISURE TRAVEL:

The BBC reports that ‘British holidaymakers are rebooking Easter trips away from Dubai due to the war in neighbouring Iran, causing a spike in demand for “reassuring” destinations…’

Sky News reports that StepStone Group ‘is being lined up to co-anchor a recapitalisation of Center Parcs UK on behalf of one of its clients.’ It says the deal could be ‘worth more than £4.5bn’ and will see ‘a US-based real estate specialist take a sizeable stake in the company….’

NCP (National Car Parks) is reported to have gone into administration, with a short 700 jobs said to be at risk.

OTHER LEISURE:

Chelsea FC has been handed a suspended one-year transfer ban, and fined a record £10.75m, after admitting breaches of Premier League rules.

The BBC reports that xAI, Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company is facing a lawsuit from teenagers who say the company facilitated child pornography by allowing the creation of explicit images of them.

Meta Platforms is reported set to be cutting around 20% of its workforce as it seeks to offset spending on artificial intelligence.

FINANCE & MARKETS:

Make UK, which represents manufacturers in the UK, has said that the sector has started 2026 on a ‘fragile footing’. It suggests that the sector may grow by only 1% this year…

Mortgages. The Bank of England reports that the number of homeowners borrowing more than 90% of the value of their home to be acquired, is now running at its highest level since the financial crisis….

Sterling mixed at $1.3285 and €1.1578. Oil around a dollar lower at $103.84. UK 10 year gilt yield down 5 basis points at 4.77%. World markets mostly better yesterday. Far East mixed and London set to open around 6 points lower as at 6.30am.

RETAIL WITH NICK BUBB:

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